Atmosphere: a scientific history of air, weather, and climate

People have been at the mercy of weather since they first learned to cultivate plants and raise domesticated animals. A single hailstorm can destroy a crop. Alternatively, enough rain at the right time mixed with sun will ripen plants and create an abundant harvest. Because it is a matter of life and death, people have tried to understand weather patterns throughout history. Interesting theories of weather phenomena have since evolved from the notion that supernatural beings were attributed to atmospheric conditions and could bring suffering and death. The scientific study of the atmosphere was born more than 2,000 years ago in Greece, as philosophers realized that weather patterns had more to do with natural processes than with the intervention of gods.